


Soulless

by Moon_Blitz



Category: Kamen Rider Ghost
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, Gen, ToT: Monster Mash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-23
Updated: 2016-10-23
Packaged: 2018-08-24 06:59:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8362105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moon_Blitz/pseuds/Moon_Blitz
Summary: Takeru reflects on the meaning of souls.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [phidari](https://archiveofourown.org/users/phidari/gifts).



> Thank you for leaving such a wonderful prompt in your letter, and Happy Halloween!
> 
> Technical Notes:
> 
> The word ikisudama is an old form of the word ikiryou, which is a spirit that leaves the body of a living human to haunt other people or places. In this universe, it has the additional meaning of 'an external soul'.
> 
> A komainu, or lion-dog, is a guardian statue seen outside of many Shinto shrines, although they are present at Buddhist temples as well.

Soulless

Ganma not having ikisudama was something that Takeru would never be able to get used to. _Everyone_ had an ikisudama, and the fact that his opponents didn’t made them all the more unsettling.

Taking a deep breath, Takeru stepped forward and raised his Me Eyecon. Akizumi crouched by his feet as a cat, baring her fangs at the group of Ganma they were about to fight. “Henshin!” She transformed along with him, flowing smoothly into the form of a komainu. “Let’s go!” he said, tugging his hood down as his transformation completed.

“We’ll win for sure!” she replied, already off and running towards the Ganma. With a leap, she charged into the first one, the force of the blow making it vanish in a spray of black smoke. Takeru felt the impact in his chest, but the sensation didn’t slow him down any as he chose his target and drew his fist back to punch it.

\- - -

Akizumi sat with him in the main temple room, the sound of her purring lending an air of peace to the space. Takeru was supposed to be meditating, but thoughts of Specter filled his mind instead. The blue-clad Rider, so similar in appearance to Ghost, had fought them several times now. Even without an ikisudama to aid him, he had defeated Takeru thoroughly. “What should we do...?” he murmured, opening his eyes and looking down at Akizumi.

She dug her claws into his thigh, making him wince. “We’ll defeat him, like we always do. We just have to get stronger, that’s all.”

“Yeah...” He smiled fondly at her. Having his partner by his side made this whole situation easier to bear, and he was so glad she had been made a ghost as well. He couldn’t imagine what it would be like to go through this all by himself. “Wanna go see Akari?”

“Sure!” In a flash, she was perched on his shoulder as a squirrel, and he chuckled at he got up. Not having a settled ikisudama at his age really didn’t bother him – Akizumi would settle eventually, and in the meantime, they would use her shape shifting abilities to their advantage in battle.

He poked his head out into the hall, looking around carefully for Iha. Onari’s ikisudama was nowhere in sight, but he wouldn’t put it past the rabbit to pick up on him ducking out of his meditation practice. Just to be sure, he turned invisible and crept slowly down the hall towards the laboratory. On the way, he stepped over Chima, sprawled out in typical dog fashion across the length of the hall. Shibuya was nearby, busily cleaning one of the temple decorations.

He became visible again in front of the door leading to the basement lab, quietly opening it and entering. Akizumi bounded over to his other shoulder as he descended the stairs, tail twitching as she looked around the lab. As expected, Akari was hard at work, typing steadily away on her laptop while Ieuji lounged on the table beside her. Takeru smiled at the river otter, getting a wave of a paw in return. “Any progress?” he asked, climbing up to stand beside her.

Akari leaned back in her chair and shook her head. “No, nothing yet. I’ve complied all of the data we have on the Ganma, but there doesn’t seem anything about them that points to why they don’t have ikisudama. According to Arisotle’s Theory of the Soul, all humans have ikisudama, or daemons, as the Greeks called them. The only ones who didn’t were the gods, since they were divine beings and so had perfect unity within their souls. Later philosophers theorized that beings on other planets should have daemons, since that’s how souls work in this universe. Even Gramps has an ikisudama, and, well, I’m not entirely sure what he is...” She sighed and took off her glasses. “I’m not sure how much more research I can do, without examining a Ganma firsthand.”

“That sounds like a dangerous proposition,” Ieuji said, rolling onto his back and stretching. “For now, how about a break? You’ve been working for hours.”

“Yeah, a break sounds good.” Akari rose and smiled as Ieuji rolled off of the table and onto the floor, following him down the steps to the edge of the lotus pond surrounding the monolith. Takeru followed as well, sitting down as Akizumi leaped off of his shoulder and into the water, changing mid-air into a koi fish. Ieuji slid gracefully into the pond, and Takeru chuckled as he watched the two ikisudama chase each other.

“If the Ganma really don’t have ikisudama, does that mean they have no souls?” It was a terrifying idea, and it made him deeply uncomfortable to voice it. The thought of battling a soulless Kamen Rider like Specter made his stomach twist, so he tried to focus on Akizumi’s joy from playing instead.

“I don’t know.” Akari sat down beside him and stared at the monolith. “A human not having a soul seems like it’s impossible, based on everything I know. Perhaps they do have ikisudama, but they’re just invisible?”

“Invisible?” Takeru made a face at that. “Then what’s the point of having one if you can’t interact with it?”

“That could be just how their universe works. Either way, it would be interesting to study.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” Takeru grinned at her. “I’m sure you’ll figure something out the more I fight the Ganma.” He was confident of that much. He and Akizumi would keep fighting, no matter how many times they lost to Specter. And once he got all of the Heroic Eyecons, he would bring them both back to life.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Specific ikisudama for each character:
> 
> Takeru - Ikisudama not settled, common forms are a housecat and a komainu  
> Akari - Japanese River Otter  
> Onari - White Rabbit  
> Shibuya - Yorkshire Terrier


End file.
